Walt Disney and a group of associates fly over the coast of Florida aboard a

Beechwood Queen Air (a small twin propeller aircraft first put into service in 1963).

Walt and his entourage of top executives are at the end of a tour of the eastern United States in search of an ideal location for a new theme park. The aerial view confirms Walt's doubts about building a theme park by the ocean.

They fly inland over Orlando, circling the forests and swamps for the very first time. From the air they see the good

road network below (which includes Interstate 4, Florida's Turnpike and McCoy Air Force Base - soon to be Orlando International Airport). Walt has a good feeling about this site. This is followed with a stop in New Orleans to refuel for the trip back to Burbank, California. It is during the stop in New Orleans that they learn of U.S. President Kennedy's assassination in Texas, just hours before. On the somber flight back home, Walt announces that out of all the

stops ... Central Florida appears to be the best choice.

Disneyland will close the following day in honor of President Kennedy (who visited the park, as Senator, in 1959.)

(Although often reported, Disney and his executives were not aboard a 1963 G-151 Grumman Gulfstream 1 plane

on this day. That airplane - today on display at Disney's Hollywood Studios - was not put into service until 1964.)

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, passes away one week before his

65th birthday. (The 2005 film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - distributed by Walt

Disney Pictures - was based on his first installment in the Narnia series.)

1924:

Actress Geraldine Page, the voice of Madame Medusa in Disney's 1977 animated release The Rescuers, is born in Kirksville, Missouri. An Academy Award and a two time Emmy Award-winner, Page also appeared in the 1967 live-action feature The Happiest Millionaire as Mrs. Duke.

1952:

Disney animator Fred Moore (who is in the midst of working on Peter Pan) and his

second wife Virginia are involved in an auto accident on a rural highway through Big

Tujunga Canyon near the Angeles National Forest. They are both injured after their car is struck

head-on while making a U-turn. (Sadly, Fred will pass away the following day.)

1955:

Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Guest Star Day.

1958:

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the star of Disney's 2003 Freaky Friday, is born to

Hanks as the voice of Woody and Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear -

is released. The film is shown at Disney's El Capitan Theater in Hollywood as part of "Totally Toy

Story." Moviegoers can attend the Toy Story Funhouse adjacent to the theater through the first of the

new year. The Toy Story Funhouse includes such activities as playing with a giant Lite-Brite and

having your photo taken with Buzz and Woody. (The Toy Story Funhouse will eventually re-locate to

Disneyland.) Released along with Toy Story is Pixar's Academy Award-winning short Tin

Toy, directed by John Lasseter. (In 2003, Tin Toy will be selected for preservation in the United

States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or

aesthetically significant".)

The Toy Story Parade premiers at the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida.

Disney releases the 1982 film Tron on laserdisc.

1999:

Bob Hope appears at Disneyland to inaugurate a new tradition, the first official lighting of the holiday lights at the park.

2000:

Disney's live-action feature 102 Dalmatians is released.

Starring Glenn Close as the villainous Cruella DeVil, it is a sequel to the 1996 101 Dalmatians

(a live-action remake of the 1961 animated feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians). Cruella De Vil is released from prison on good behavior swearing that she will have nothing to do with fur ever again.

Everyone marvels at her miraculous transformation, but she, however, cannot keep her promise and soon is plotting another scheme with French fashion designer Jean Pierre Le Pelt to get her ultimate Dalmatian coat!

Actress-singer Auliʻi Cravalho is born in Hawaii. She is best known for voicing

and Bernhard Forcher as Radames. It will play through January 15, 2006.

2006:

Touchstone Pictures releases Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington as an A.T.F. Special Agent.After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims. The cast includes Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Val Kilmer, and Adam Goldberg.

1998:

The Hollywood & Vine Cafeteria of the Stars opens in the Disney-MGM Studios

theme park at WDW. Set in the in classic Hollywood style of the 1930’s and ‘40’s, the sit-down

restaurant is located on Vine Street off Hollywood Boulevard.

1962:

Thanksgiving Day

A helium-filled Donald Duck balloon returns

to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

on this rainy day in New York City.

Heavy rains during the parade cause the rim of

Donald Duck's hat to fill with water and dump 50 gallons

on a few unlucky parade watchers!

1984:

Thanksgiving Day

A giant balloon of Donald Duck,

to help celebrate his 50th birthday,

is featured in Macy's Thanksgiving

Day Parade in New York City.

Although a cold day, the crowds

number a million packing

streets and curbsides 10 deep

along the parade route!

1997:

The eleventh episode of Disney's Recess, "Rainy Days/The Great Can Drive"

premieres on ABC-TV. The holiday segment "The Great Can Drive" centers on Mikey who wants to

participate in the Thanksgiving can drive competition against the unbeatable Ashleys.

2012:

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 86th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade kicks off at 9AM in

New York City. Kermit the Frog, Buzz Lightyear and Sailor Mickey return to the skies over Manhattan

to help ring in the holiday season.

Down in Florida, the Disney Thanksgiving Parade of Bands takes place at

passes away at the age of 97 in California. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Shaw was

recruited by Walt Disney in 1937. He worked on such early classics as Fantasia, Bambi, and The Wind in the Willows (which later became a segment in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad). He left the studio in 1941

but returned 33 years later to help influence the look and story for such beloved and modern-day Disney films as

The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.

(During his break from Disney, Shaw helped design and create the original Howdy Doody marionette

The comedy-drama Delivery Man, produced by DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, is released by Touchstone Pictures. Amiable slacker David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) drives a delivery truck for his family's company and is content with a life of mediocrity. However, when he learns that he is the biological father of more

than 500 offspring and many of them are suing to learn his identity, he decides to hold himself accountable.

2017:

Walt Disney Pictures releasesCoco, an animated musical fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, to U.S. theaters. Based on the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos, the film tells the story of a 12-year-old boy named Miguel Rivera who is accidentally transported to the land of the dead, where he seeks the help of his musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living. The voice cast includes Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel), Benjamin Bratt (Ernesto de la Cruz), Gael Garcia Bernal (Hector), Edward James Olmos (Chicharron), Gabriel Iglesias (head clerk), Cheech Marin (Corrections Officer), Alfonso Arau (Papa Julio), Sofia Espinosa (Mama).

Released along with Coco, is the Disney short Olaf's Frozen Adventure. When the kingdom of Arendelle empties out for the holiday season, Anna and Elsa realize that they have no family traditions of their own. So Olaf sets out on a merry mission to bring home the very best traditions and save Christmas.

1956:

Actor Richard Kind is born in Trenton, New Jersey. His Disney & Pixar voice credits

(Kind is best known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City.)

1967:

Actor Mark Ruffalo is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He gained international recognition for his role as Bruce Banner / Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with The Avengers (2012). He reprised the role in Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Actress Scarlett Johansson is born Scarlett Ingrid Johansson in New York City.

Best known for portraying Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in such films as Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2015), and Captain Marvel (2019), her credits also include The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The